24 November 2015

Thanksgiving Table

Shauna Niequist writes at the beginning of her book ‘Bread and Wine’,

‘I hope that when you put this book down, you’ll gather the people you love around your table to eat and drink, to tell stories, to be heard and fed and nourished on every level.’

It’s a book about friendship and food. It’s full of personal stories and recipes. It’s all about the importance of gathering around the table. The table is a place where the ordinary and the every-day can meet with the sacred and the divine. Sometimes, we gather around it specifically for communion and sometimes we gather around the table for turkey and ham but God is always present and always working amongst us.

It can be hard to come to the table sometimes. As Shauna writes, ‘we come with a need, with fragility, with an admission of our humanity…..The table is the place where the doing stops, the trying stops, the masks are removed, and we allow ourselves to be nourished, like children. We allow someone else to meet our need.’

The women of our church gathered for Thanksgiving dinner recently. We ate, we drank, stories were told and heard and we were nourished. This is our collective prayer of thanksgiving written that evening, based on Psalm 136.


Come to the table. Give thanks.

Psalm136

"Give thanks to the Lord for he is good
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to the Lord of lords
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to lord for he is merciful
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to The Lord for the strength he gives each day
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to The Lord for his outstretched arm
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to The Lord for allowing us to come to church
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to The Lord for the friends he gives us who pray for us when we are anxious
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to The Lord for his rod and staff which comfort us
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to The Lord for continual forgiveness
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to The Lord for he is king
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to The Lord for his provision every day
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to The Lord for he is faithful
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to The Lord for being nearby in this amazing world that he has made
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to The Lord for his unconditional love
His love endures for ever
Give thanks to The Lord for our church family
His love endures for ever.”



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